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Judgment
The Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, Punjab
issued public notice dated 26.07.2011 (Annexure P-1) for
recruitment to various posts under the Health Department. 200
posts of Drivers were also advertised. The basic and professional
qualifications for the post were also prescribed and which were
matriculation and for a candidate to possess a licence for driving a
heavy vehicle as also experience of driving Heavy Transport
Vehicle for a minimum period of 05 years.
Pleadings on record would indicate that the petitioners
herein applied for the post of Drivers and subjected themselves to
a process of selection. A written examination was conducted and
the result thereof was declared in May, 2012. In pursuance to the
written examination as also a driving test having been
conducted, a provisional merit list was drawn in which names of
the petitioners figure.
The instant petition has been filed raising a grievance
that the selection process has not been finalized and recruitment
in pursuance to the advertisement/public notice dated 26.07.2011
(Annexure P-1) qua the post of Drivers has not been made.
Prayer in the petition is for issuance of a writ of
mandamus for directing the respondent authorities to issue a final
merit list pertaining to the post of Drivers and based thereupon to
issue appointment letters.
Upon notice having been issued, a joint written
statement on behalf of respondent Nos.1 and 2 has been filed.
The stand taken on behalf of the State is that the
Department of Finance has issued policy instructions dated
04.12.2014 and in terms of which keeping in view the financial
position of the State, proposal for purchase of new vehicles cannot
be accepted and accordingly it has been decided to make
arrangement for new vehicles by hiring vehicles for official work
from the market.
Learned Senior counsel representing the petitioners
would join issue and would submit that the Department of Finance
Instruction dated 04.12.2014 stands superseded inasmuch as the
State Government has taken a decision in principle not to resort to
outsourcing.
Having heard counsel for the parties at length, this
Court is of the considered view that no interference in the matter is
warranted.
Even if a decision subsequent to the issuance of the
Department of Finance Instruction dated 04.12.2014 has been
taken not to resort to outsourcing, yet it would be within the
domain of policy making as regards the requirement to recruit
Drivers in view of the financial stringency faced by the State and as
portrayed in the written statement.
There is no vested right with the petitioners to claim
appointments merely on account of an advertisement having been
issued to recruit a certain number of Drivers and the petitioners
having applied and having participated in a process of selection.
Right of the petitioners was limited to a fair
consideration for appointment. Intervention of this Court would
only be justified if a case was made out that the State Government
on account of certain oblique motive is not finalizing the process of
recruitment to the post in question. No such case has been made
out.
The stand taken on behalf of the State with regard to the
weak financial position and there being no requirement to fill up
the post of Drivers cannot be stated to be irrelevant and
unjustified.
In the totality of the circumstances, the prayer of the
petitioners to direct the respondent Department to issue a final
merit list and to issue appointment letters cannot be accepted.
Petition, accordingly, is dismissed.
It is, however, clarified that in the eventuality of the
State Government taking a decision to re-advertise the post of
Drivers in the respondent-Health and Family Welfare Department
in the near future, the appropriate/competent authority would be
obligated to look into the issue of age relaxation qua the present
petitioners as for no fault of theirs they would have by then
become overage.
Disposed of.